The volume of Mozambican bank reserves reached a new record at the end of March, standing at 255.1 billion meticals (3.9 billion dollars), as a result of the Bank of Mozambique’s (BoM) intervention to ‘absorb’ excess liquidity.
According to a statistical report drawn up by the central bank, in specific comparative terms, in the same period last year the volume of these reserves stood at 165.8 billion meticals (2.5 billion dollars), and in general terms 2023 ended with a total of 231.7 billion meticals (3.5 billion dollars).
‘In 12 months, the volume of these mandatory reserves held by Mozambican banks grew by 10%, an increase that has risen to 285% since the end of December 2022, when they totalled 66.1 billion meticals (1 billion dollars).
According to the BoM, the obligatory reserves of the commercial banks at the central bank were set at a coefficient of 10.5% in national currency and 11% in foreign currency at the beginning of January 2023.
However, in the first six months of last year, the Bank of Mozambique increased this coefficient twice, arguing that it was necessary to ‘absorb excessive liquidity in the banking system, with the potential to generate inflationary pressure’.
The last of these increases took place in June, with 39 per cent of deposits in national currency and 39.5 per cent in the case of foreign currency remaining in bank reserves.
Following this increase, the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA) considered that the decision made it even more expensive to take out bank finance, an essential mechanism in an economy of small and medium-sized enterprises.
